Hypoglycemic Effect of Aratilis (Muntingia calabura Linn.) Leaves, Roots, and Fruits Extract on Female Diabetic Albino Mice (Rattus albus)

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Diabetes has become one of the leading causes of death in the Philippines. It requires a lifetime medication to avoid severe complications of diabetes, which costs a lot of medical expenses. However, Aratilis extracts might help solve the problem. This study generally aimed to compare the hypoglycemic effect of extracts of Aratilis leaves, roots and fruits in lowering the blood glucose of diabetic female mice. Specifically, the study was conducted to determine: (1) the amount of decrement in the blood glucose of the female mice after each treatment;(2) compare the mean decrement in the blood glucose of female mice as affected by different treatments; and (3) most effective treatment in lowering the blood glucose of female mice.

METHODS

The female mice were acclimatized for seven days. Aratilis leaves and roots were extracted through decoction while the Aratilis fruits were extracted through squeezing using a juicer. To induce high glucose level on the mice, 1.6 mL of diabetes inducer was used. The assigned treatments were given to each group through directly dropping the extracts to the mice's mouth once a day for three consecutive days. The glucose level of the animals before and after the consumption of Aratilis extracts were measured using glucose meter and were compared with the control groups.

RESULTS

Findings revealed that the extracts of Aratilis leaves, roots and fruits can lower blood glucose level especially the leaves extracts which exhibit a comparable hypoglycemic property with the commercial product.

DISCUSSIONS

The results revealed that Aratilis Leaveshad the highest mean decrement that is comparable with the commercial treatment therefore for future studies, the researcher recommend the use of various extraction methods to further evaluate the efficiency of the Aratilis plant extracts in lowering blood glucose level. Investigating the hypoglycemic effect of varied concentrations of Aratilis leaves extracts is also recommended since it was found out to be the most effective part of Aratilis in lowering blood glucose. Replication of the study can also be performed for more reliability of results.